Process for the purification of organically polluted water



Aug. 29, 1939.

o. M. URBAIN ET AL PROCESS' FOR THE PURIFIGATION OF ORGANICALLY-POLLUTED WATER Filed Feb. 24, 1957 Patented Aug. 29, l1939 2,171,203 Pn'oc'JEss Fon THE:l PURJFrcATIoN 0F ORGANICALLY Oliver M. Urbain POLLUTED WATER and William R. Steinen, C'olumbus, Ohio, assignors to Charles H. Lewis,

Harpster, Ohio Application February 24, 1937, Serial No. 127,491

- claims.

'Ihis invention relates to a Nprocess for the purification of organically polluted water. It is the purpose of .the invention to provide a process that can be more economically operated than 5 presently employed processes, a process that will give markedly improved results, and a process which requires a much shorter time period of `treatment than purification processes currently employed.

In one of its more specific aspects, the invention contemplates. the treatment of domestic sewage or the like by generating Fe2 SO4 s in situ with accompanying oxidation of the sewage.

Certain rather elemental reactions are availed of in carrying out the process, but these are employed in such relationship and in such combination that wholly new results are obtained.

To the .end that mechanicsof the process may go be made clear, we will refer brieiiy to these recognized reactions and then point out the advantageous manner in which they are employed in the process.

The following reactions take 25 is introduced into the polluted water, such as sewage, in the presence of iron: l

Beginning with the third reaction above, all these reactions are oxidation type reactions and the oxidation of the sewage solids is carried along. Sulfurous acid formed in situ is a powerful auto-oxidation catalyst.v It will be further noted that we form in situ Aboth FeSO4 and 45 Fez(SO4)3 which act as coagulants.v 'I'he Valence of the Fe is elevated in the one instance to two and in-the `other instance to three. Thus, we have the induced oxidation effect in addition to powerful auto-oxidation .catalytic effects of the 50 H2SO3.

'I'he SOmay be prepared by the conventional method which consists of burning sulfur in an ordinary sulfur burner. and the gas is collected and passed 4into the sewpage and distributed directly under the bed' of place where S02v scrap iron. Bronze perforateda piping is used for this purpose. When the SO2 enters the sewage, it reacts with the water to form HzSOz as shown by the following reaction:

Referring to the drawing, the general flow of the water to be treated is as follows:

Ihe water enters at the bottom of the oxidation tank A, overows from the top of the oxidation tank, and enters the coagulation tank B and, after coagulation, the settling zone C. The eiliuents are discharged from the zone C at D.

As the polluted liquid, for example, sewage or the like, passes upwardly in the tank A, dif- )6 fused air is passed into the solution from theiiltros plate I located in the bottom of the tank. SO2 is passed into the solution through line 2 at a point just below the kbed of scrap iron 3. All

` the reactions take place simultaneously within The S burns to $02,'

the zone occupied by the iron. Suilcient air is provided to always maintain a positive oxygen balance in the oxidation tank A. Sucient SO2v is passed into the solution to provide at least 200 P. P. M. of iron sulfates inthe oxidation Zone above the bed of iron. These balances are easily maintained and are necessary. The rate of flow of the sewage through the oxidation tank will depend upon the rate of formation of Fe2(SO4)3. Generally speaking, a twenty-minute 30 period of contact will be found suflicient to complete all of the reactions in this tank.

The solution next ows through line 4 and enters the coagulation zone or tank B. It is here treated with sucient hydrated lime which is forced into the solution through line 5 at the bot- 35 tom of the tank B to insure the maintenance of a. pH of around pH 9.5. The material is agitated by means of a suitable agitator 6. A time period of from one to five minutes is suilicient for all actions occurring in the coagulation tank B.

Fromthe coagulation zone B, the material under treatment next passes through conduit 'I into the sedimentation tank C. This tank C may be designed along conventional lines, with proper sludge facilities, bailles, etc. A detention period of two hours in this zone is ample. y

We come now to the reasons for the use of the agents employed in this process and the manner in which they are employed. 5o

The SO2 is employed to eiect the rapid oxidation of the iron with the formation of the necessary content of Fe'2(SO4);.. By thus accelerating the oxidation step, the oxidation period for the polluted liquid is reduced to less than thirty 55 minutes as against approximately six hours for the currently employed activated sludge process. The reason for this accelerated oxidation is that as the iron is being oxidized three units in valence, it carries along the oxidation of the sewage constituents. The pronounced success of this process is, we believe, due to this discovery.

The FeSO4 and Fe`2 SO4)a formed function as coagulants in the coagulation tank after the addition of the calcium hydroxide to raise the pH of the solution to pH 9.5. The oxidation can be effected with atmospheric oxygen, which is a cheap oxidizing agent.

Among the advantages of this process may be listed the following:

(a) It provides a cheap and emcient methodV of preparing Fe2(SO4)a in situ to act as a coagulant.

(b) It permits taking advantage of the powerful oxidation set-up of SO2 plus iron, plus ofxygen, plus water. l`

(c) The use of air keeps the surface of the iron free of Fe2(SO4)3, thus increasing the rate of formation thereof.

As a further feature of our invention, we have found that soluble manganese and soluble chromium salts will catalyze the oxidation of organic polluting constituents in the presence of iron sulfates. "In our process, these salts may be advantageously introduced into the oxidation tank A in a concentration of about five pounds per million gallons. l

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

1. A process for the purieation of organically polluted liquid comprising passing the liquid through a bed of scrap iron, introducing sulfur dioxide and diffused air to pass simultaneously with the liquid through the bed of iron, forming iron sulfates in' situ, and thereafter treating the resultant liquid with hydrated lime and passing the treated liquid to a settling zone. v

2. A process for the purification of organically polluted liquid comprising subjecting the same to the simultaneous action of sulfur dioxide and air in the presence of iron to form iron sulfates in situ, and thereafter raising the pH of the solution to approximately pH 9.5 and delivering the same to a suitable sedimentation zone.

3. A process for the purification of organically polluted liquid comprising subjecting the same to the simultaneous action of sulfur dioxide and diffused air in the presence of metallic iron there- ,by forming iron sulfates in situ.

4. A process for the purification of organically polluted liquid comprising subjecting the same to the simultaneous action of sulfur dioxide and air in the presence of iron to form iron sulfates in situ, and facilitating oxidation of the polluting organic constituents by introducing a catalyst into the liquid simultaneously with the sulfur dioxide and the air.

5. A process for the purification of organically kpolluted liquid comprising subjecting the same to the simultaneous action of sulfur dioxide and air in the presence of iron to form iron sulfates in situ, and facilitating oxidation of the polluting organic constituents by introducing into the liquid simultaneously with the sulfur dioxide and the air, a catalyst, selected from the group including soluble manganese andchromium salts.

OLIVER M. URBAIN. 

